MVN - Most Valuable Network

It Could Always Be Worse

Half the team is in the hospital, the record is 3-10 and fast deteriorating, and the coach isn’t the best coach out there.

But it could be worse, Rams fans, because the coach isn’t the worst coach out there either.

No, that distinction goes to Bobby Petrino, formerly of the Atlanta Falcons, who signed a contract with Arkansas on Tuesday, resigning from his NFL job just 13 games into his first season. Fans, players, even fellow coaches are united in proclaiming Petrino a coward. My MVN colleagues over at Flying High are up in arms over the whole debacle, and I would like to throw my support behind them, for what it’s worth.

Petrino didn’t seem to get along with his players or his bosses. He was, by all accounts, a bad fit. His team was horrible. He had to deal with the disaster that is Michael Vick.

None of that excuses what he did.

Not only did he abandon his team, following in the footsteps of such luminaries as Steve Spurrier and Nick Saban, he did so in the most cowardly and despicable way possible. He reportedly told Falcons owner Arthur Blank, “You have a head coach” — on Monday, the day before he resigned. He didn’t bother telling his players the news face-to-face; he addressed them instead in a one-paragraph letter written in the most unapologetic and unashamed language possible.

Whatever may be wrong with Scott Linehan — and the list is extensive — at least we know he will not bail on his team the way Petrino did. In fact, I must say that this shocking turn of events has changed my previous opinion of Scott Linehan quite a bit. There is plenty to complain about with this year’s version of the Rams, but it has only now begun to hit me how much worse it could be. The Rams and Falcons have exactly the same record. But where the Falcons are worried about finding a new emergency coach, the Rams are just hoping this one can do better next year. Where the Falcons are dealing with the reality that their franchise QB will probably never play football again, the Rams are just trying to get theirs to recover from a concussion. Where the Falcons are an organization in turmoil, the Rams are just a bad team.

Petrino went to the Razorbacks. Maybe he will be more loyal to them than he was to the Falcons. Meanwhile, I’m just happy he didn’t coach the Rams.

And good luck to the Falcons and interim coach Emmitt Thomas through the rest of the season.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 13th, 2007 at 12:01 am and is filed under 2007 NFL Season, Bobby Petrino, Scott Linehan, National Football League, St. Louis Rams, NFL. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.